Cannot afford repairs and unsure of options

trwil

bengalknights said:

There are some councils that have discretionary home repair grants or where they do emergency work for you.

Have you enquired to see if your council has this and if you can use it?

yes but its for benefits only, as i work and do not get benefits i do not qualify unfortunately

trwil

Bendy_House said:

trwil said

I had the downstairs toilet replastered recently so i saw the exposed wiring around the lighting as i had a new light put in... , it is definitely copper core wiring, and the coating seems to be pvc

I am happy to get a new consumer unit put in.

Was this single-strand copper wire, or multi-stranded?

Bendy_House said:

trwil said

I had the downstairs toilet replastered recently so i saw the exposed wiring around the lighting as i had a new light put in... , it is definitely copper core wiring, and the coating seems to be pvc

I am happy to get a new consumer unit put in.

Was this single-strand copper wire, or multi-stranded?

Bendy_House said:

trwil said

I had the downstairs toilet replastered recently so i saw the exposed wiring around the lighting as i had a new light put in... , it is definitely copper core wiring, and the coating seems to be pvc

I am happy to get a new consumer unit put in.

Was this single-strand copper wire, or multi-stranded?

I didnt look as closely as that i am afraid.

tightauldgit

Something 'reaching the end of its expected life' should be equated to 'might have to be repaired or replaced in the future' not 'has to be ripped out and replaced now' so don't start factoring in the cost of these things that may or may not be required. 

Work out what you actually have to do to get the house to sellable condition and do that minimum of work. You might have to sell it for a little less than the going rate if it needs a bit of work done but not £100k less. 

I suppose what you have to look at is which of the items would be flagged as an issue by a surveyor for any future buyer that might put them off but in general if you aren't having problems with anything right now then you don't need to pay to fix it. 

If the pipes aren't leaking they're fine. If the flat roof isn't leaking then it's fine. 

onomatopoeia99

trwil said:

The most urgent is the wiring. The wiring looks to be pvc but it is an old fuse style box. Nothing has ever blown and no issues but we were advised by the electrician that the old fuse box is unsafe and that if we had a fire as a result the insurance wouldnt cover it.

Did they explain why the old fuse box is unsafe?  They aren't fundamentally unsafe so there must have been a reason.

Bendy_House

trwil said:

Was this single-strand copper wire, or multi-stranded?

I didnt look as closely as that i am afraid.

Silly Q - you don't have any reason to undo a socket or light switch, do you?! Where you could peep at the wires...

Only do this if you are 'happy' to do so, and safely.

trwil

onomatopoeia99 said:

trwil said:

The most urgent is the wiring. The wiring looks to be pvc but it is an old fuse style box. Nothing has ever blown and no issues but we were advised by the electrician that the old fuse box is unsafe and that if we had a fire as a result the insurance wouldnt cover it.

Did they explain why the old fuse box is unsafe?  They aren't fundamentally unsafe so there must have been a reason.

No they just said it doesnt provide RCD protection so is unsafe

They also said if a fuse goes no-one will fix it for us?

Bendy_House

trwil said:

No they just said it doesnt provide RCD protection so is unsafe

They also said if a fuse goes no-one will fix it for us?

It is NOT unsafe. It's just not AS safe as one with RCD protection.

And any local handyperson will fix a blown fuse for you. Tho' really this should be within your own set of skills - why not look up YouTube videos on how to do this? And have the materials to hand should either you or someone else need to do this - it'll only cost a couple of squid.

You did say that you are open to having a new CU fitted? Seems sensible to me to have this done, then, and you'll have your extra protection, as well as a modern CU in place should a rewire be required in the medium-term.

No harm in getting a few quotes in for this? I'd suggest having one with individual RCBOs, as that will give each INDIVIDUAL circuit its OWN separate RCD protection, so if there IS a leakage, then ONLY that circuit will 'pop'. 

What can happen on older circuits (tho' we don't even know how old yours is...) is that each circuit can 'leak' a tiny bit EACH to a perfectly safe degree, but these all add up to the amount that could trip a SINGLE main RCD, causing many circuits to go off for no good reason - 'nuisance' tripping.

Don't use BG... Ask three local recommended sparkies for quotes, listen to what they each day, and come back on here for guidance if you need.

(Of course, if they ALL say your wiring is dangerous, then hey...')

Bendy_House

I've asked before, Trwill; is selling up and buying a newer, smaller property a sensible alternative?

onomatopoeia99

trwil said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

trwil said:

The most urgent is the wiring. The wiring looks to be pvc but it is an old fuse style box. Nothing has ever blown and no issues but we were advised by the electrician that the old fuse box is unsafe and that if we had a fire as a result the insurance wouldnt cover it.

Did they explain why the old fuse box is unsafe?  They aren't fundamentally unsafe so there must have been a reason.

No they just said it doesnt provide RCD protection so is unsafe

They also said if a fuse goes no-one will fix it for us?

Traditional fuse boxes do not need to be replaced simply because they don't offer RCD protection, they were spinning you a line.  There is no requirement for existing installations that were compliant at time of installation to be brought up to current standards every time the standard changes.    RCD is nice to have but its absence doesn't make things unsafe.

If it's cartridge fuses, you can change them yourself.   You don't need anyone to do it for you.

I'd have nothing further to do with the person that told you that.  Sounds like you need to spend £0 on the electrics and not much more on the plumbing, and the roof doesn't leak so not sure why you would want to spend money on that.

What are the repairs that actually need doing now?  

davemorton

onomatopoeia99 said:

trwil said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

trwil said:

The most urgent is the wiring. The wiring looks to be pvc but it is an old fuse style box. Nothing has ever blown and no issues but we were advised by the electrician that the old fuse box is unsafe and that if we had a fire as a result the insurance wouldnt cover it.

Did they explain why the old fuse box is unsafe?  They aren't fundamentally unsafe so there must have been a reason.

No they just said it doesnt provide RCD protection so is unsafe

They also said if a fuse goes no-one will fix it for us?

Traditional fuse boxes do not need to be replaced simply because they don't offer RCD protection, they were spinning you a line.  There is no requirement for existing installations that were compliant at time of installation to be brought up to current standards every time the standard changes.    RCD is nice to have but its absence doesn't make things unsafe.

If it's cartridge fuses, you can change them yourself.   You don't need anyone to do it for you.

I'd have nothing further to do with the person that told you that.  Sounds like you need to spend £0 on the electrics and not much more on the plumbing, and the roof doesn't leak so not sure why you would want to spend money on that.

What are the repairs that actually need doing now?  

And to add to this, an income of £1900 a month should hopefully be enough to keep on top of any maintenance needed.